The 125th Hunger Games - SYOT open
by Hermione Sandwhich
Summary: 50 years ago Katniss Everdeen escaped from her second Hunger Games sparking a civil war within Panem. After the death of Katniss Everdeen the rebellion fell apart and the Capitol was victorious once again. A new era rolled in bringing peace and prosperity to Panem, and the Capitol has wasted no expense on the most extravagant Hunger games yet the 5th Quarter Quell.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Sicily's Heels clicked as she scrambled through the glass over pass, her gaze focused on the ornate gold door at the end of the hallway. Her breathing was ragged and small blue curls were falling into her face. Reaching the door she quickly pushed it open holding her breath until she saw Claude.

"Where have you been? She will be here any minute." Sicily released her breath and flopped down into a chair.

"I'm sorry I was almost here when I realized that I had left the plans at home on my desk." She reached into her purse and pulled out a small computer disk. Claude reached into his jacket and pulled out an identical disk.

"It's a good thing I made an extra copy." She let out a frustrated sigh and quickly tried her best to push the stray hairs back into the glittering clips atop her head. Claude came close to her helping to adjust the clips back into their proper position. "Relax we have done this five times already and each one has been better than the last."

"But this needs to be perfect-" Claude griped Sicily's hands and pulled her to her feet.

"And it will be." he leaned in and placed a kiss on her forehead. "You are brilliant, there has never been an arena remotely close to this she will love it just you wait and see."

"She will love what?" The sickeningly sweet voice cause Sicily to jump slightly.

"Why the arena Sicily has created." Claude turned to face President Mandella Snow. She was a tall woman with stunning features her lips were a full and rosy, cheek bones were pronounced, and her violet eyes large and striking against her pin straight mane of snow white hair.

"Is that so Sicily?"

"Yes madame President." Sicily had regained her composure and took the small disk placing it into a slot by the wall. Mandella Snow took a seat in one of the large chairs that filled the marble conference room and claude took a seat next to her his burgundy suit a startling contrast to the white leather. A hologram with rough sketches and blueprints covered the white wall, all of the pictures rotating so that Mandella Snow could see the full design. "I have dove more into research about pre Panem since last year's wild west ghost town arena was such a huge success and I found something extremely interesting and much more modern. In the 20th century this had become Main attraction in the world and heavily influenced pop culture during that time." Sicily flicked her hand pulling up a slew of vintage photographs. "It holds so much potential the space itself is vast and the variety within the attraction itself has so many resources for the game makers between mutts, resources, flammability, secret passages, electricity, and machines this is the arena you have been waiting for." Mandella Snow leaned back in her chair, not particularly impressed.

"You are suggesting we recreate this as arena?" Sicily took a deep breath plastering a smile to her face.

"On the contrary Madame President I suggest we use the original as the arena with a few touch ups of course." Sicily slid her hand across the screen once more and a photo of the current state of the proposed arena was on one side whereas another photo represented the proposed renovations. President snow sat forward in her seat now intrigued, after a thoughtful silence she turned to Claude.

"Are you sure you can create this?"

"It will take a lot of work no doubt but I should be able to engineer it without any problems." Claude had a smirk of confidence plastered to his face they had won her over and he knew it.

"It's too big of an arena the tributes would never find each other you need to condense the space."

"On the contrary Madame President I have proposed a design that can easily reduce the size of the arena when necessary." Mandella Snow sat back in her chair contemplating the blueprints before her. Sicily stood confidently by her presentation Claude was right it was an amazing idea she just hoped president Snow thought so as well.

"Do you think this design will be affected by the Quarter Quell?"

"Not at all." Claude stood up and proudly walked over to the wall flicking his hand so that more vintage photos came to the screen. "As you can see from our research this place was created with a very specific target market in mind." Photos continued to scroll onto the screen in an endless parade. "By our calculations these games will cause a surge in pre Panem pop cultural interests unleashing unlimited opportunities for the fashion and entertainment industries within the capitol and wealthier districts." He flicked his hand and a series of charts appeared onto the screen. "In past years, The Hunger games have cost the Capitol money to put on most of which was made back between, tickets to the live pre-games events, betting, and sponsorship but as you can see nothing had been profitable, until last year." He pulled a chart to the front of the presentation and enlarged the chart his finger following the line of the graph as it made its way above a green line. "Last year's games were the first games we have seen any profit." He pulled up another chart detailing the profits from the previous year's games. "As you can see we saw an increase in sponsorships last year partly due to the unpredictable and exciting new arena, many sponsors provided extra assistance to help their favorite tribute since they could not predict how they would act with the different elements in the arena. The other huge profit point was the sales in western themed fashion that sparked from the arena." Mandella Snow nodded thoughtfully.

"Go on." Claude flicked his hand and pulled up another graph.

"These are the projected profits from this year's games, as you can see even with the extra expenses needed since it is a quarter quell profits are still projected to be even higher than last year."

"Let me see the designs again" President Snow rose and strode over to the wall as Sicily brought back her arena sketches. Mandella examined the designs turning the blueprints in every direction. "We have the equipment to do this?" Both Claude and Sicily nodded. "You are positive that this will be completed in time?"

"It is not something anyone has tried before but I have run the numbers and tested it on a small scale we should be able to accomplish it without a problem." Claude stated confidently. President Snow looked over the blueprints once again.

"There is no backup plan if this fails I expect nothing less than perfect."

"We will not disappoint Madame president." Sicily stated matter of fact, standing tall and confident.

"You will begin construction immediately." With a curt nod to both game makers Mandella Snow briskly left the Marble conference room. Once the door closed behind her Sicily let out a large breath folding over in half trying to steady her knees.

"Yes! we did it." Claude ran over to Sicily pulling her back up to a standing position. "The Design was brilliant I told you absolutely brilliant." He Gripped her shoulders and pulled her in for a rough kiss on her powder blue lips. Sicily stared into Claude's Pink eyes, some of his long black hair had freed itself from his slicked back ponytail.

"You had the construction team on standby correct? We have all the materials to assemble a force field of that magnitude?" Sicily started to panic her design was brilliant there was no doubt about that but would they be able to pull it off?

"You bet we do, I will call the team right now we will start tonight. You will need to talk to the stylists and work with them on the designs for the tributes clothing. We're going to make history my dear." He pulled her in for one more quick kiss before rushing out of the conference room. Sicily stood alone in the all marble room panic beginning to set in. She and Claude had been head game makers for the past 5 years and each arena had been more elaborate than the last. This year they were taking a huge risk, and had convinced President Snow that it would be a profitable risk, if anything failed she would be out of more than just a job.

Mandella Snow stared out the large glass doors to the balcony she could hear the roar of the people clearly, and any moment now she would walk onto that balcony and announce this year's Quarter Quell. These games made her nervous 50 years ago it was a Quarter Quell that had sparked a civil war, and 25 years ago rebels had appeared in some of the outer districts. Her father had not been a patient man and he had paid dearly for it his greed and fear had clouded his judgment and because of that he had nearly destroyed an empire. She knew the rule change this year would not be favorable among the districts and because of that she had taken precautions sending extra peacekeepers into the districts in order to quickly remove any dissidence. She took a deep breath and nodded to the guards to open the doors. The crowd cheered as she glided to the podium before her a gold envelope waiting on the marble fixture.

"Citizens of Panem the time is upon us to celebrate Panem's glorious victories. One hundred and twenty five years ago our country was saved from rebels who wished to destroy everything we had created." The crowd grew completely silent. "Fifty years ago one selfish young woman plunged this country yet again into a chaos falsely accusing the Capital of mistreating their citizens when all we have ever wanted was to protect them." She picked up the small gold envelope, opening it she pulled a single gold card from with in. "On this the anniversary of the one hundredth and twenty fifth hunger games we honor the fifth Quarter Quell as a reminder to the rebels that the capitol is your protector and you can trust no one else, as the tributes this year are reaped so shall a loved one be reaped with them." The crowd erupted into thunderous applause and Mandella Snow let a small smile grace her cold face. She turned her back on the sea of people and made her way back inside. She needed to start right away on the preparations for this years games they had a lot to accomplish in a short amount of time.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 **Kent Mariani, District 13, Age 13**

Kent felt as his knee became cold and wet and looked down seeing that he had indeed knelt in a puddle, he sighed and went back to his work. He had seen something interesting imbedded in the cave floor a couple of days ago and had spent hours meticulously trying to release it from its rocky cage. The small light attached to his head flickered once more and he smacked the headpiece jogging the light on once again, batteries were expensive he needed to unearth this soon or else he would be unable to explore the caves until his next birthday when he received a new set of batteries.

"Almost there." He bit his lip slowly chipping away at the rock. As small flecks of cave fell away the shiny object finally broke free. Letting out a sigh of relief he pulled his backpack from off his shoulder placing it down next him being mindful of the puddle. He set his tools atop the backpack and leaned down gently wriggling the newly released object free of the rock. It was a mineral he hadn't seen before it was a pale green with flakes of silver dust. Kent smiled to himself it was one more thing he could add to his collection. He turned to look at the opening of the cave and saw that the sun had completely risen by this time. He turned back to his tools and placed them inside of his backpack along with his new discovery, reaching up he removed the light from his head and turned it off stuffing that in the backpack as well. Standing he tried his best to wring some of the moisture from his pants, but soon gave up and made his way to the mouth of the cave.

Kent looked out at the vast wilderness that lay before him, he imagined that this is what it had all looked like pre Panem without the constricting electric barbed wire fence. He had read about bustling metropolises all over the country not just in the capitol, he read about people who lived in the wilderness with the closest person being miles away, and he read about cities on the coast line where people would buy second or third homes just to see a view of the beach. That was of course before the water began rising at a rate that made it unsustainable to live near a beach. That's why almost all of the districts were landlocked. The books he had obtained had little information but any information was good, the books were rare and hard to come by. Kent had purchased all of his from an older man in the market, the book jackets dusty and depicting "History of Panem" or "When Snow Fell: a Biography". If certain peacekeepers had seen the real titles they would be confiscated and burned and Kent would be punished but he didn't want to imagine what they would do.

Shaking his head, he started back to his small house being sure to move quietly to not alert anyone that he had been out before he was allowed. The square was empty most slept in later on this day or spent the time with their families just in case. He slid through with no problem the town almost ghost like. Kent spotted his house and gazed through the small window to the kitchen and saw his mother with her back turned cooking breakfast. Ducking under the window he crawled to the next one and without looking lifted the pane and dove through the opening partially stopping halfway and having to pull himself through falling to the floor in front of a pair of feet.

"Where have you been?" Kent stood up and rushed to his bed throwing the backpack down and pulling out his new discovery.

"I found a new one I'm going to have to do some research to see what it is." Kent held out the stone to his brother Reed. "I found it a few days ago and It had taken me awhile to extract it." His brother nodded.

"That's really cool" He smiled and placed the stone on his desk next to his other samples. Kent knew that his brother was not interested in his rocks what so ever but Reed always tried his best to be at least slightly interested in his hobbies and he tried his best to do the same for him. Being twins had helped them to understand each other better and both, while not the best of friends looked out for each other and always found the other as a welcome companion. Both brothers were identical standing at an average height, and slightly lanky build, with sandy blonde hair, and gray eyes. Reed wore his hair long and shaggy and would be able to pull it back when it was hot out, whereas Kent kept his hair slightly shorter so that it just swept across his eyes, and wore a pair of old bent glasses. Their mother was grateful for the differences because even she had a difficult time telling the two apart. When they had been younger before their parents had found the money to buy Kent his glasses their parents had grown accustomed to addressing both at the same time so that they were not embarrassed for not knowing the difference between their boys.

"Breakfast is ready." They head their mother yell through the small house.

"I'll tell her that I was hogging the bath." Reed smiled and straightened his blue shirt making sure it was tucked into his khaki pants, while staring at Kent's dirty jeans with its large wet spot at the knee.

"Thanks." Reed smiled and left. Kent removed his dirty clothes and rushed into the washroom. Quickly he sat into the cold water that was in the wash bin and scrubbed the dirt from his skin. He dried off and headed back to the small room he shared with his brother to get dressed. He slid on a matching pair of khaki pants and a light green button down shirt. Today was reaping day and he was on edge, logically he knew that his name was not likely to be pulled but the thought of it being a Quarter Quell, the thought of having to go into the arena with a loved one chilled him to the bone. What if he had to watch them die? What if he had to kill them in order to survive? Could he even do that? He shook the thought out of his head there was no way that would happen. The odds were in his favor.

 **Freya Kingston, District 13, Age 16**

Freya stood in front of the mirror she growled as she tried for the sixth time to pull her long hair up into a tail, the ends catching on the tie and a couple stray hairs falling in her face. She screamed and ripped the tie from her hair furiously running her fingers through the nearly white locks sending the hair in every direction.

"You really should learn to control your temper." She turned glaring at her father who slumped against the door frame to her bedroom his eyes slightly glossed over. "Just leave it down. Looking prim and polished for reaping is over rated." He took a swig from a dark container. "Even if you are reaped it won't matter what you look like. Who you are will get you sponsors no matter what." The tall thin man made his way to his daughter. She was a mature serious girl, tall and athletic with flowing white blonde hair to her waist and hazel eyes. Her father took the tie from her hand and lazily pulled his white hair back into a low tail not caring about the few strands falling forward. She glared into the mirror her natural scowl upon her face and her muscular shoulders revealed by her dress. "That face alone will get you sponsors" She softened enjoying the compliment. "You look like a cold-hearted bitch." She turned to stare at him her annoyance growing once again. Taking another swig, he turned and walked away a slight chuckle escaping him. Her eyes closed as she tried to calm her breathing, after all these years she was used to her parent's colorful personalities.

Her father Thor Kingston had been District 13's first victor at the surprising age of twelve during the 99th Hunger Games. In one of the most unexpected twists in years Thor had played defenseless and befriended the female tribute from District 1. She served as a protector and defended him until the end and during the final battle Thor had hid while she battled the last tribute. As she plunged her sword into the tribute Thor snuck up from behind and beheaded her with a Machete. The capitol had erupted into Chaos no one had anticipated the twelve-year-old tribute from District 13 would defeat a career. Six years later an eighteen-year-old Thor had become a veteran mentor but had not had a single tribute make it to the final eight. That was until Athena Fowler was reaped as the District 13 tribute for the 105th Hunger Games. Athena the daughter of a butcher had no qualms with killing, during the games she had become merciless almost feral. In the final days of the games she had adorned herself with a wolf pelt and was covered in blood, she never rinsed the blood from her body and instead had been known to shower herself in the blood of the fallen tributes. For twenty years Thor and Athena had worked together as the mentors for district 13 producing three more victors. Along the way, the two developed a connection embracing the others abnormalities, and helping each other to cope with the pain that had followed. Unexpectedly they found themselves parents and had committed to raising Freya to be as strong as she could be knowing full well that as a child of two victors she was in more danger than any other child.

"Freya it's time." Her father yelled for her, she stopped looking at her reflection resolved that she will indeed look upset no matter. Rushing down the stairs she caught up with her parents who had already left their home and the three made their way through Victor Village. No one spoke as they walked to the town center. The lines for checking in were longer than usual because every person was required to sign in this year due to the Quarter Quell rule. The three checked in and silently Freya walked to her section.

The night of the Quarter Quell announcement her mother had begun screaming at the top of her lungs ripping pictures from the walls and throwing other adornments, until she had run out of the house and dashed into the woods. Her father on the other hand had calmly watched her outburst and stared at the pile of rubble in the center of their living room floor drinking from his dark flask. After some time, his flask had been drained he stood and headed to the kitchen retrieving another container and walked out the still open door and sat on the steps leading to the porch staring out into the wilderness that Athena had run to. Freya had become accustomed to these kinds of outburst from her parents, experience had taught her to leave them be. She walked away from the destruction in the living room and headed outside to the academy to train, her father not even seeming to notice that she was leaving. Upon her return to her home she heard the voices of her parents and stopped just outside of their line of sight to listen.

"You know it will be rigged that she will be chosen, right?" Athena asked looking at her partner defeated.

"Yes." Thor just continued to drink his eyes had completely hazed over and his body had begun to numb.

"Which means one of us will have to go with her, no matter who else is in her life we're going to be the only options they will choose from."

"Yup". Athena took his hand and stared out into the wilderness with him.

"It has to be me." He turned to look at his life partner.

"Atha you can't- "

"We both know I have the best chance. You can't win the same way again everyone knows what you did." He gripped her hand back. "You need a protector and Freya won't be able to take on that role, she has a better chance with me. I can do what is necessary I lost my remorse and guilt a long time ago." The two sat in silence for a long time. "I'm not sure if we can volunteer or not but if so I will do it in a heartbeat." Tears began for form in Thor's eyes.

"I know." Dropping her hand and his flask he lifted both of his hands and gently caressed her cheeks leaning in for a quick kiss before resting his forehead on hers. For a long time, he ran his fingers through her long dark hair absently mindedly twisting the strands around his digits. Freya then emerged from the woods her parents not moving from their position until she reached the steps, as she passed them into the house they simply looked at her as she crossed the threshold.

As Freya stood in her section she turned to see that her parents both were off to the side of the crowd, her father resting against the whipping post as he continued to drink from his flask, her mother standing defiantly with her arms crossed at her chest her long hair wild and free like her daughter's and her dull brown eyes burning holes into the district 13 escort Phillippe Pernaski. Philippe was dressed in a gold sequined jacket and trousers that came to his knees, pale pink stockings covered his legs and a turtle neck shirt to match. His hair was done this year in a pink mohawk glittered with gold and his skin had taken on a faintly metallic hue. Freya thought his outfit continued to get more ridiculous every year and could not fathom that he actually dressed himself in the morning.

"Good morning District 13." He was met with some applause, due to every district now sporting an academy the outer districts had begun to slowly glamorize the games like those in the career districts. Freya looked around at the other girls in her section as Philippe continued his speech. Almost all of them seemed to not be breathing a couple held hands tightly and another had her eyes sealed shut small tears already forming in her eyes. They were all nervous, Freya knew they had no need to be. She had overheard her parents who had been mentors for 20 years and knew many of the secrets behind the hunger games if they said the reaping could be rigged they were probably correct. Since the night of the Quarter Quell announcement both of her parents had begun accompanying her to academy training. Chances were she would be reaped and one of her parents a former victor would be sent into the arena all for the sake of entertainment. She watched as Philippe stuck his hand into the large glass bowl and pulled out a slip of white paper. "And our lucky female tribute representing district 13 will be…"

 **Authors Note: I am excited to get started with this fic I haven't written for a while and am happy to be back. I do still have quite a few slots open for tributes so if you are interested please PM a tribute (if you would like them to be accompanied by a specific loved one feel free to go into detail with them as well). If you requested a reservation and have not gotten the tribute to me make sure you do that by Friday because after that I will open them up once again. I look forward to feedback and will be choosing the direction of the story based on comments and reactions so make sure to cheer for your favorite tribute.**

 **Love,**

 **Hermione Sandwhich**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 **Heather Wilde, Age 18, District 11**

"Heather Wilde" Heather closed her eyes it wasn't an awful shock, her name was entered so many times that if would have been more shocking had her name not been called. She had been taking the most tesserae in the district for the past 3 years. She had been toying with the idea of volunteering as it was on the chance that she would win and be able to support her brothers without worry. However, after the reveal of the Quarter Quell she dared not take the chance of one of them being reaped with her, now as it stood there was a good chance that one of them would be forced to participate. She climbed the stairs that lead to the stage where Fi Fi stood with an outstretched hand her entire outfit including her hair resembling a gigantic purple cotton ball. Fi Fi positioned her on stage to the left of the large bowl containing girl's names. Peacekeepers stood behind her with their registration devices printing names from the registry into a new smaller bowl. Extra peacekeepers had been sent to each district and assigned a family after the revelation of the Quarter Quell rules. Their job was simply to observe their assigned possible tributes and create a record of anyone who they appeared to be emotionally attached to including family members, and close friends. Heather could see multiple faces in the crowd looking at her in panic, they were clients of hers, whether they were afraid of being reaped or afraid of possibly being outed as someone with a tie to her she could not tell.

"Now for the boys." Fi Fi waddled her plump frame over to the large bowl filled with boy names. She dove her hand in and swished it around for much longer than necessary before retrieving a name. "Denzel Eaton-"

"I volunteer!" The crowd all turned to face the voice a tall young man confidently strolled to the stage no coercion needed to start him moving.

"Oh my this is exciting." Fi Fi scrambled to the stairs to meet the first volunteer she had from district 11 in her now 3 years as escort. She positioned him to the right of the bowl next to Heather. "And what is your name?"

"Abraham Eaton." He gave a slight nod towards the 11-year-old section of the crowd. Heather deducted that he must have volunteered for a younger brother, it was a bold move considering he could still be reaped as an accompanying tribute.

"Now will see who our special accompanying tributes will be, and remember there will be no volunteering for our special tributes." She was practically skipping her excitement radiating off her body seeming completely misplaced, a peace keeper stood to the side of Heather holding out a small bowl containing only 3 pieces of paper. Heather held her breath cursing herself for hoping for one specific name to be pulled. "Graham Rockwood." She exhaled audibly tears forming in her eyes, she looked out into the crowd and spotted her best friend he quickly kissed an older woman on the cheek before being escorted to the stage, the older woman protectively put her arms around 2 little boys both with mocha skin, black waving hair, and large brown eyes just like their sister. When Graham reached the stage, he gripped Heather's hand standing firmly at her side. "Excellent now for our final tribute…" Fi Fi waddled back towards Abraham a peacekeeper had emerged to his right. His bowl was filled with many more names than Heather's had. "Luis Eaton." Heather's eyes widened she knew that name a man near the same height as Abraham but older and broader dragged his feet. His eyes met hers and she pursed her lips together as he took his place on stage. "I am excited to introduce this year's tributes for District 11 Heather Wilde, Graham Rockwood, Abraham Eaton, and Luis Eaton. Some scattered claps were heard before the four were rushed through the doors of the justice building. Heather and Graham were pushed into a room together the door slamming behind him.

"I'm so sorry!" She ran to him embracing him in a tight hug.

"Don't worry I would rather it me than them." They held each other for a long time, and were still in their embrace when the door flew open and two young boys around the ages of eight and ten rushed in. Heather let go and immediately embraced the two boys the youngest of which was crying.

"It's going to be ok boys."

"No it's not." The older one protested "Neither of you will come back." She pulled back looking at both of her brothers. "District 11 has had victors, and even in one of the games the game makers made a special rule that if a team wins together they will both be crowned victors."

"Really?" The youngest said through his sobs.

"Of course." She cast an upwards glance to her best friend who looked at her doubtful, yes District 11 had had victors but not in about 15 years, and true there was one game where two victors won but that had sparked the second rebellion. The chances of that rule coming back into play were very slim.

"Are we going to live alone now?" The youngest asked.

"My mom, Miss Jenny will be looking after you until we come back." Graham stated, Heather smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Yeah you're going to stay with her." Both boys nodded and clung to their sister again. A peacekeeper chose that time to open the doors ushering the boys out of the room. When they had disappeared Heather fell to the floor trying her best to fight back tears that was possibly the last time she would see her brothers. Graham pulled her up to him embracing her in his arms, there was nothing he could say to make this better he just held her in silence until the door opened once again. This time Graham's mother stepped in. Jenny Rockwell was short with pale skin that had been burnt the previous day from her work in the fields, there were wrinkles forming under her eyes and around her mouth and her brown hair was streaked with gray. Without releasing his hold of Heather he out stretched his arm to his mother who gratefully joined their embrace holding tight to her son and the closest thing to a daughter she would ever have. After the disappearance of Heather's parents Jenny had done what she could to help the young girl, admittedly though it hadn't been much. When the woman pulled away she had tears in her eyes but her voice was calm and steady.

"I was thinking you two were safe, you just had to make it one more year and you would have been safe like my Graham." She looked sadly between the two in front of her Graham was her only child and had aged out two years ago and this would have been Heather's last reaping. Heather began to cry harder her eyes beginning to turn red and puffy.

"I'm so sorry Jenny." she sobbed. Jenny opened her mouth to say something but closed upon noticing the cameras positioned in the corners of the room, she did not want to end up like Heather's parents.

"Maybe there will be a special rule this year and I will see the two of you again." Now Graham was trying his best to retain his cool demeanor, as he watch both of the women he loved being so upset.

"Will you take care of the boys in case you don't?"

"Of course I will those two are practically my own." Heather hugged her once again the older woman leaned in close. "You're a survivor don't you forget that." Jenny let go of the younger woman, and turned to her son. Heather slinked away to the corner of the room to give them as much privacy as possible.

"I'll do my best mom, i'll try to get us both back." Jenny stared at her son and glanced quickly back to the girl in the corner, her son turning to look as well.

"I know…. Have you told her?" He shook his head

"It's too late now."

"No it's never too late, and it could save your life. It has happened before." He ran his hand through his cropped hair.

"Yeah like the capital would risk that." The conversation was becoming difficult to continue with Heather in the room. Graham was hoping she hadn't caught onto what his mother was trying to say.

"I hope they do." At that moment the peacekeeper opened the door signaling that Jenny's time was finished. She gave her son one last hug before she was dragged out the open door.

 **Abraham Eaton, Age 17, District 11**

Abe watched the door close behind his younger brother Denzel. The boy was only 12 and had a problem with his lungs one of the doctors had called it asthma, any kind of physical activity left him breathless, he wouldn't have made it. Had it not been for that he would've never volunteered, he had attended the academy sometimes when his family could afford it after the harvest, but he had not been very good he didn't have the stomach for blood, the sight of It always made him nauseous and faint. His cousin Luis however seemed to relish and enjoy violence. At the age of 26 Luis was well past reaping age and him and his friends seemed to be the only group who was invested in the games each year. They cheered and bet as they thought the capitolites would, they spoke in great detail how they would've killed a tribute instead and every way they described was more gruesome than the last. The entire time they had been in this room in the justice building Luis had not once shown any sign of fear instead he looked as smug as ever.

Luis had dreamed of this moment since he was a little boy each year he couldn't wait for the games. For hours, he would crowd around the television set in his home watching every second of the games, barely moving from the screen trying his best to stay awake as long as possible not wanting to miss anything. At the age of nine he had begged his parents to enroll him in the academy, seeing it as an opportunity for their son to win and never have to labor as they had his parents scrounged and saved every penny they could for a year so Luis could enroll the day he turned 10. For years, he and his parents worked hard saving all the money they could to continue his training and Luis had trained even harder. Every day he was at the academy even on harvest days he would go in early to train and come in late to train some more. By the age of 18 he had grown broad and strong and was the top of his class he had planned to volunteer that year. However, two weeks before the games he had fallen from a tree breaking his femur rendering himself unfit to walk let alone volunteer for the games. In his place his friend Marco had volunteered and returned the victor, a victory that should've been Luis's. For the past 8 years Luis had joined his friends each year for the hunger games each one taking bets on their favorites and discussing strategy, and each year Luis became more resentful. It should've been him. He watched every year as his friend Marco stood beside his tributes, and the capitol replayed his victory upon his introduction, the fame should've been his. When he heard Abe Volunteer he knew this was his chance he was born to be a victor it would be his name that would be pulled.

The two men stood looking at each other in the now quiet room. Of all the people who could've been reaped with Abe Luis was the best option, he was prepared, trained, and out of everyone he was the relative Abe liked the least. Luis did have a good sense of humor, and was determined and hardworking but he also has a short temper and a concerning obsession with violence. During his training days at the academy he would volunteer to perform executions, and would discuss in detail how he would have preferred to execute them, none of his suggestions were anything one would call humane. Two years ago, his girlfriend had been found in a nearby field her eyes both swollen and bloody, with multiple broken bones and a bruised neck. She had been struggling to breath and was almost unrecognizable. She was brought to the small hospital but died shortly after from her injuries. Peacekeepers simply buried her body and continued with their job it was not worth their efforts to investigate a girl with no family and of no status.

Luis had never admitted to this crime but he also never denied it, Abe could recall his cousin never once going to visit her in her last hours instead he had watched the games with his friends. That was the last time he had seen Luis with a woman, until a couple months ago. Heather Wilde the girl who had been reaped as the female tribute was a suspected prostitute in 11. She hadn't advertised her services but word had gotten around when she was seen a few nights leaving a peacekeepers home. Abe had gone to bring Abe a fresh loaf of bread his mother had made but he never knocked on the door before he could he had heard an unsettling array of noises coming from his cousins shack and had turned and left not wanting to be caught up in whatever he was doing. After a few minutes his guilt had gotten to him and he decided to return to deliver the bread once more. When he knocked, Luis opened the door greeting him happily and took the bread as he did so a girl ran out the door Luis smiled and told her he would see her soon. Luis had thanked Abe and closed the door. Abe looked back watching the girl as she tried to run but stumbled a bit he could hear her labored breath. He quickly caught up with her, once he was close enough he could see a bruise beginning to form around her throat, a welt the shape of a large hand on her face, and a bite make on her bare shoulder a small amount of blood pooling at the mark.

"Let me help walk you home." Abe bent down tucking himself under her left arm and supporting her back.

"Thank you." She tried to say but her voice was soft and strained. He held her up and the two walked along the dark pathway stopping a few times for Heather to endure painful cramps that were rippling through her body. Besides that, the two walked in silence neither of them making a sound just staring ahead. When they arrived at her small rundown shack (run down even by district 11 standards) the door opened and a tall man around their age stood in the door. He came down the steps taking in a sharp breath and scooped her up in his arms and brought her into the house. The young man returned to the door.

"Were you the one she was with?" The man almost growled out.

"No. I saw her come out of the house, saw she was hurt, and offered to help her home." He replied.

"Did you see who she was with? She won't tell me who she sees."

"No." Abe replied immediately. "Will she be alright?"

"I hope so" the man looked sadly into the small home, no doubt his gaze resting on her. "thank you." Abe gave a small nod and with that the door was closed. Abe immediately had regretted what he had said, he knew who she had been with, but for some reason he hadn't have been able to bring himself to admit it.

The door to their room in the justice building opened once more, this time it was simply peacekeepers and they waved the two to follow and lead them down the halls of the justice building and outside where a large limousine waited for them.

 **Author's Note: Hi everyone. I'm going to try to do my best to post something at least once a week so if I'm not able to I'm sorry in advanced. Right now I'm just introducing characters but some of them have some interesting interactions all ready I would love any input on what characters you think would make good alliances. Remember to cheer for your favorites and if you don't like someone let me know because it will affect how the story progresses.**

 **There are still a lot of tribute slots available:** **District 1 M, District 2 M & F, District 3 F, District 5 M, District 6 M & F, District 7 F, District 8 M & F, District 9 M & F, District 10 M & F, District 12 M.**

 **If you are interested in submitting a tribute there is a tribute submit form in the first chapter. Please message me your tributes.**

 **Love,**

 **Hermione Sandwhich**


	4. Chapter 4

**Tidus Aquata, Age 17, District 4**

Tidus watched as the landscape changed, gone were the sandy beaches and the view of the oceans those had disappeared about an hour ago. Now the forest was growing thicker he had never so many trees before in his life. He hadn't realized how hard the absence of the water would be, simply not being near the ocean felt as though he had left a piece of himself behind. That was the only piece he had left in district 4, everything else he loved was on this train with him.

 ***~*~*Three hours earlier *~*~***

Tidus and his sister stood on stage together, in the worst possible situation they could be in. Despite District 4 being a career district not a single person had volunteered this year. He had heard plenty of boys claiming to volunteer, a fight had even broken out one night as he was passing the academy, the three boys violently arguing over who would be the next tribute, exchanging blows over who would have the "honor" of representing District 4. Now Tidus looked over a sea of faces each one of those boys looking to the ground. The rules for the Quarter Quell had changed everything.

They pulled the name of the accompanying tribute for his sister and by no shock it was Sandy Aquata, their grandmother, the woman who had raised them. The old woman walked proudly to the stage, and when peacekeepers offered her a hand she turned to them handed them her cane and continued by herself up the steps herself. They had directed her to the left of her granddaughter but she pushed her way passed everyone and stood proudly between her two grandchildren grasping both of their hands, forcing Cleo Patranona to move away from her customary place as the District 4 escort. Cleo had stood stunned not knowing if she should insist she move to the appointed place, after a pause Cleo's smiled returned.

"Now time for the boys." The crowd began to whisper it was known fact that Sandy had raised both children and that there was no other family that could be reaped. "Riviera Dalton." Tidus shut his eyes wanting to cry, he only opened them when he felt someone tightly grip his other hand giving it a reassuring squeeze.

 ***~*~* Present time *~*~***

Tidus was the only one quietly staring out the window, the three women were enjoying the luscious food laid out before them. He stared longingly at the food. When was the last time he had eaten? A gurgling noise answered his question. Too long. Sighing he stood up and joined the women at the dinner table set for the four of them as well as a seat for Cleo, and their Mentor Trident. Trident was a large man he had volunteered for the games at 18 and was an instant favorite his confidence and determination coupled with his impressive size gave him such an advantage, it had been one of the fastest games in history.

"Tidus Join us." The man waved him over, even his voice was booming. As he sat he was greeted with a plate of steaming food, the avox almost invisible with her speed. "I've been enjoying the company of these lovely ladies, you are a lucky man they all have such spirit." He gave a small sad smile. He looked around at the three women and saw all of them blushing and staring affectionately at their mentor even his grandmother. He couldn't blame them, he almost couldn't help but stare himself. Long flowing black hair draped over his shoulders with matching dark eyes and tanned skin, the man stood nearly 6'4", carried large defined muscles everywhere, and his arms were coated in black tribal tattoos. He was a masterpiece to look at. Tidus looked down at himself feeling wholly inadequate. He was tall over six feet, with not an ounce of fat, however he had been built lean and lanky looking almost too skinny. His shoulders and arms were defined from years of swimming but with his shaggy blonde hair and tan skin, as well as years of struggling with hunger his looks were more generic and disproportioned rather than attractive. A smack landed solidly on his arm.

"Ow." He stared shocked at his grandmother.

"Don't be rude now. We're not dead yet so you still need to mind your manners." Sandy's scratchy voice yelled out to him. Loading food onto his plate Tidus' head began to clear, and he could actually hear the conversation that was continuing. All the woman seemed to be enjoying themselves they chatted happily with each other and with Trident, he couldn't fathom how they were all so calm and lucid. A fog had clouded all of Tidus' thoughts, the entire day had felt not real, almost as if it had been a dream. Before he knew it his grandmother had risen to her feet declaring that she needed to rest, and his sister and Trident were helping her make her way through the train to her sleeping quarters.

Tidus looked down at his plate the food barely touched. A hand grasped his and he turned to look at his best friend. She had a pretty face with unusually pale skin for District 4 and rich chocolate brown hair that was kept in a short cut near her chin. Rivera was his only friend she embraced his awkwardness and possessed such optimism despite being an orphan. Tidus and his small family had treated her like any other person not a poor orphan, never once had she been refused somewhere to stay when needed or food when she was hungry. She had become part of the family and she was content with holding onto them for as long as she could.

"I'm so sorry Reeva." Unable to hold it back any longer the fog cleared from his mind and the full force of what had happened hit him like a tidal wave, and tears began to stream down his face.

 **Ripple Aquata, Age 14, District 4**

Ripple thanked Trident for his help and closed the door behind him. Her grandmother had sat down on the bed smiling at the door.

"Why couldn't you have brought me to his room to lay down?" Sandy chided. Ripple couldn't help but smile. "If I were you I would do everything you could to win if only for the fact that you would get to see him all the time afterword, who knows you could end up like those two victors from 13." Sandy raised her eyebrows at her granddaughter.

"I think you need some sleep."

"I'll sleep when I'm dead I might as well enjoy all of this while I can." Ripple sat down on the bed next to her the smile falling away from her pretty face. Unlike her brother, she hadn't inherited all the gawkiness. She had a small cute upturned nose, pink lips, and high cheekbones, her eyes were a beautiful hazel. The only traits they did share were the straight sandy blonde hair, and their lean build Ripple however being a foot shorter than brother looked strong and powerful as opposed to lanky and thin. "You're a pretty girl it wouldn't take much to seduce him." Ripple nodded but couldn't hide the smile and blush that came across her cheeks. Trident said all the women had spirit but her grandma definitely had the most.

"You really should take a nap grandma it's going to be a long ride."

"Alright but you make sure he comes in and wakes me up ok? If you're not going to take him I want a crack at him." Sandy laid down letting her granddaughter pull the blankets over her, and Ripple made her way out of the compartment.

From the second she had stepped out of her grandmother's room Ripple's brain had been in overdrive, she was analyzing options and strategies. Finding herself at the front of the train she sat down and watched as the landscape changed into something she had only ever read about. What on Earth were they going to do? She knew her Grandma wouldn't make it, Sandy knew that as well so they would just need to find the opportunity to make it as painless as possible for the older woman, and preferably before she had to watch one of her grandchildren die.

Then there was the issue of Tidus's mental health, her Grandmother, Reeva and herself had been helping him with crippling depression, and paranoia for years and finally he had found medication that had suppressed almost all of the problems. There was of course a few times the stress had caused a small relapse but they were used to it by now. The games though would be high stress, and it was known that the game makers would deny a tribute medication, especially medication for mental health, in order to make the games more interesting. Her brother was walking a fine line and it would only be a matter of time before he snapped.

On the plus side, they already had an alliance and she was thankful Reeva was a part of that. As an orphan in District 4 you were given the option of a life of hard labor in the processing plants cleaning fish after you turned 18, or you could try to become a peacekeeper and receive training at the academy in exchange for entering your name more times into the drawing for the reaping. Reeva had been training for nearly 5 years and probably had her name in the bowl more than anyone else in the district. It was a freak occurrence that she had not been reaped initially, had it not been for the Quell she would've made it. Reeva had a great throwing arm particularly with a spear Ripple had watched her fish with one catching two to three fish at a time, Reeva had the accuracy of a career.

Leaning herself against the glass pane of the train Ripple let out a deep sigh watching fog spread across the glass. Only one of them would be able to make it out of the arena. Speed was her asset, she was fast and she could analyze any situation and usually came to the best outcome, but she wasn't the strongest of this alliance. Despite his mental handicap Tidus was even smarter than she was, he knew how to predict movements and actions, and no one could rival him in the water. He glided through water effortlessly and had won multiple races and titles, he was the fastest swimmer in District 4. If the arena was tropical or had water of any kind no one could touch him. They would be a strong force together there was no doubt but they couldn't all win, only one could win. Even if a rule was put in place again that more than one could win it would not be the same rule allowing all members from a district to win as it had been before, that would be too many victors. She was sure if there was a rule it would be one granting the reaped and their love one to win if they were the last two standing. That meant Ripple was on her own, she would only be able win by herself, her brother would have to die.

 **Authors Note: An apology for any spelling errors I do try my best to reread it out loud a few times before posting but some time things do slip by if you see something let me know so I can fix it up that would be greatly appreciated.**

 **I'm interested to see what you guys think the arena is going to be, and let me know who your favorites are. If you don't have a favorite consider submitting a tribute slots are still open for: District 1 Male, District 2 Both, District 3 Female, District 5 Male, District 6 Male, District 7 Female, District 8 Female, District 9 Both, District 10 Male, District 12 Male**

 **I hope everyone is enjoying the story and can't wait to introduce all the characters and the arena. Any ideas, alliances, deaths, romances, victors, and of course tributes are strongly encouraged.**

 **Happy Reading.**

 **Love,**

 **Hermione Sandwhich**


	5. Chapter 5

**Amanda Keys, District 6, Age 14**

Gasping Amanda sat bolt upright in her bed, her lungs felt compressed and she struggled to bring in enough air.

"It's just a nightmare it didn't happen. You're safe in your room." Her breathing finally slowed and she pushed her blankets aside and stood up ready to make her way to her beloved piano to calm her nerves. When her feet touched the ground, she felt an unusual sensation. Her feet had met cold hard wood, but that was impossible her bedroom was carpeted. Quickly looking around she noticed that her piano was missing. "No, no! It was a dream it can't have been real!" Her chest began to tighten once again. The landscape rushed past her outside the window, she was on a train. She had been reaped, it wasn't a nightmare. Tears had begun to stream down her face, she needed her piano. Amanda grabbed a pink bathrobe hanging by the closet and threw it over her shoulders. She pushed open the door that lead to the hallway looking to make sure no one else was awake, and made her way to the back of the train to the dining cart when she knew a grand piano was kept for decoration.

This wasn't Amanda's first time on a train, she unlike the majority of the country had traveled to almost every district. Since before she was born Amanda's life had been planned for her, named after Amadeus Mozart, she had been groomed to be a concert pianist from the start. She could read music before she could read words, she had practiced hours every day, winning her first competition at the age of five. Since then she had traveled and played for the mayors of the most prominent districts, although she had yet to visit the capitol.

Just seeing the piano in front of her brought her a sense of calm and relief. She sat down and let her fingers travel over the keys. A calming sweet melody filled the air as her fingers graced the instrument, this was what she was best at, this is what she was meant to do not fight to the death. As she played she began to think of the day before. As per usual she had been taken to the gymnast's academy at 4 AM sharp.

Her mother had been concerned about Amanda when she had yet to speak by the age of four. Due to her piano schedule, there was no time for her to attend public school since it would take up too much time and quite frankly Cristelli Keys didn't feel all that information was necessary for a girl who was meant to perform. Amanda was meant to be famous, and early on Mrs. Keys had decided to take it upon herself to homeschool her daughter, but as the years went on her daughter grew more and more secluded and it was found that when her daughter was not practicing she simply sat alone staring out the window. It was decided then that she needed some activity that would help her to interact with others as well as make her more active in general. After careful consideration Amanda was enrolled at the gymnasts academy. Gymnasts like pianists could travel for competitions, win prize money, and if they excelled could apply for a residency in the capitol. Cristelli Keys wanted nothing more than to leave District 6 and Amanda was her ticket out. Amanda was aware of her mother's intentions, she had done nothing to hide them, she wanted to leave District 6 and live a life of luxury and hopefully to never see her husband again for he surely wouldn't his position at the bank.

Amanda continued to play, her thoughts replaying the morning over and over again, after the reaping there was to be a competition, her mother had signed her up, paying a hefty admission fee, but Amanda knew it was a waste. She was good, excellent actually and could technically win every competition with her eyes closed. However there was always a Capitol judge at these higher end tournaments and never once had she won.

 ***~*~*~*~ Yesterday Morning ~*~*~*~*~***

"Mother please, let me wait for another competition."

"Amanda stop this nonsense now! Your technique is flawless, well except for your last tumble you continually fail to stick that landing but that just means you need to practice harder-"

"Mother I can't win this tournament." Amanda was close to crying and she noticed other girls beginning to stare in their direction.

"You are making a scene you can and will." Cristelli Keys turned and paid the competition fee to the instructor who gave a sad exasperated look at both her and her mother. Cristelli turned and grabbed her daughter's arm dragging her to the restroom. "Now I don't know what you think you are doing but you will stop this insolence now. We have not trained all this time for you to decide you want to be second rate. You are going to compete and you will win do you understand? If you do not we will just have to make sure you train even harder."

"Mother look at me there's a reason the Capitol hasn't asked me to play there, there's a reason no competition will take me, there's a reason I don't win these big competitions." Amanda looked at her reflection in the mirror, she had a sad long face with pale lifeless skin covered with years of acne and scars that no amount of products was able to remove. Her eyes were a dull uninteresting brown, her lips were flat and thin, and her hair was a monotone chocolate brown that was always kept in a ponytail. She was small, most of the younger children surpassing her in height and weight, she would never be believed as an adult when she was old enough and that would be even if she was noticed. With her lack of speaking and unappealing boring features Amanda was constantly overlooked and most of the time blended in with her surroundings she was so unmemorable that many people who she had worked with for years forgot who she was.

"That is why I hired a stylist again, this one will be much better she had brought new cosmetics and also some of her own body modification equipment – "

"NO!" Amanda screamed, it was the loudest noise she had ever made in her life. Without a moment's hesitation Cristelli connected her palm with the side of her daughter's face.

"Amanda Bethany Keys you are never to speak to me in that manner again!" Amanda clutched her stinging cheek. "Now look what you have made me do hopefully that will be out by this evening otherwise I will have to pay the stylist extra to fix the welt." Cristelli gathered her things. "We are going home now. You will, prepare for the reaping and afterward you WILL meet with the stylist and you will win that competition tonight. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes Mother." And on that note Cristelli stomped out of the rest room, and Amanda gathered her things and followed her silently.

 **~*~*~*~*~*~Present Day~*~*~*~*~*~*~**

Amanda continued playing as the first streaks of sunlight began to show through into the train. Her fingers had begun to ache and cramp but it didn't matter this piano and the music felt like the only thing that was real.

"That piano won't help you now." She looked up at her father, his cold stare blazing into her as she continued to play. "I can hear it all the way down in my room, no doubt you have awoken the entire train." She stopped at that, at home her mother had spent large sums of money soundproofing her bedroom so that she could practice at any time without disturbing her father, here on the train she didn't have that luxury.

"I'm sorry" The man scoffed and sat at the table, she look back longingly at the piano and then stood up joining her father at the table. The two sat in absolute silence staring out at the landscape that passed until the District 6 escort Selena Serena came bounding in.

"Well good morning early birds." She chimed cheerfully. "Now which one of you was playing the lovely music this morning."

"That was her I'm very sorry at how rude she is. I can assure you she will never do it again please see to it that our suite at the capitol does not contain that insufferable instrument." Selena's smile faltered obviously stunned at the man's outburst.

"Of course." Amanda's face fell and she could tell Selena was staring at her. "I'll just inform the cooks to begin serving breakfast I know Ben and Japa are also awake and will be joining us shortly." Amanda could feel her father's glare. When Selena returned, she sat down and an avox followed shortly after with some tea and coffee. "So Atticus are you Amanda's grandfather." Amanda wanted to cry to cry this day was going as awful as it could be.

"No madam I am her father." He stood up slamming his hands on the table in frustration. "I will take my breakfast in my compartment thank you." Atticus stormed off, as Selena sat absolutely stunned.

"I'm so sorry, I had no idea-"

"It's fine you're not the first person to ask." Her father was a tall round man of almost sixty, with thick grey hair. Him and his daughter shared nearly none of the same features, she had been practically a clone of her mother. Her appearance coupled with the large age difference between her parents, as well as their indifference to each other had led many to question Amanda's legitimacy. Many in the bank where her father worked were aware that their marriage had not been one of love but a mutual arrangement between the two and their families, but over the years more hostility seemed to have grown between the two. Her father was of great status in District 6 and for years had been the logistical person behind her travels and competitions ensuring Amanda to have the best opportunities, but as the years trailed on and it became apparent that she would share the same dull looks as her mother her father had begun to realize, as had Amanda, that a career performing was not in the cards for his daughter. Yet his wife had continued to push and insist, her attempts becoming more desperate and pleading. Amanda wondered what her mother would do now alone in District 6 she had not even come to say goodbye to her daughter and husband.

 **Ben Chronic, District 6, Age 16**

Both boys walked into the dining car for breakfast seeing that Selena and Amanda had already been served some beverages. Selena seemed relieved to see the two of them.

"Welcome boys! Welcome, take a seat." She waved us over and Japa excitedly sat down and an avox immediately came over with a cup of coffee.

"This is awesome." Japa exclaimed greedily drinking from the cup, Ben watched as his brother made a face at the bitter liquid but did his best to hide it. Ben took the seat next to his brother and passed him the cream and sugar.

"Here put some of this in it I think you will like it better." Japa quickly dumped at least five sugar cubes into the mug and filled the rest to the brim with the cream, a little spilling over the sides as he raised the cup to his mouth, this time he enjoyed the taste.

"Good Morning, ladies." He mimicked a smile he had seen his father use on female customers at the automotive shop. "Was it you who was playing the piano this morning Selena?"

"Me? Oh goodness no." She shook her head long gold braids fluttering across her dark face. "That was our dear Amanda." Amanda flushed slightly and started down at her mug.

"Well it was wonderful, I wish I could wake up to that sound every morning." It was true her playing had been flawless almost as if it was a recording.

"Thank you." This was the first time he had heard her speak. Her voice was boring and monotone, just like the rest of her was. Ben thought to himself that if he had never been reaped he probably would've gone his entire life not realizing this girl existed.

"I Don't believe we have ever seen you around the district before, were you relocated recently?" Relocations were extremely rare but not unheard of maybe a family member had been a peacekeeper who was assigned a new district.

"I was home schooled." She continued to stare down as she sipped from her mug, offering no other hint of a conversation. Ben nodded and awkwardly began to drink his own hot beverage.

"How was that?" Before Amanda could answer the doors flew open and in walked the District 6 mentors, Chase & Dash Quintana.

"Good Morning!" Chase practically sang, her voice sensual and husky "Who's ready to be famous?" Japa's hand shot right up in the air. "Perfect!" She turned to her brother "I call the boys". She sauntered over to Ben and Japa grabbing a seat on her way to slide between the two. As she sat her short dress rose dangerously high revealing almost all of her legs. It was barely seven and Chase looked like she was ready for a night on the town decked out in boots, bare legs, voluminous blonde waves, and glittering jewelry.

Chase and Dash had been among some of Districts 6's first careers. Both trained at the academy, volunteered, won, and loved every second of the spotlight. Both reveled in the luxury of being a victor and they made sure everyone knew it. Their fame had sparked a series of volunteers from District 6 and it was only in recent years that had begun to dwindle. Both the siblings were now in their mid-thirties, and it was obvious capitolites were beginning to tire of them, if they were to stay in the spotlight they needed fresh blood to join them.

Dash gave a smile (or at least the best he could muster) towards Amanda and took the chair that her father had once occupied.

"Dash Quintana." He held out his hand to Amanda and she nodded and shook his hand, before returning her gaze down. Dash was stunned, she hadn't stared at him, or blushed or had any kind of lingering gaze, in fact she had seemed completely indifferent to him. Ben suppressed a giggle. Both the siblings were attractive, Japa could barely keep his eyes off Chase and she was eating it up, But Amanda had ignored Dash's handsome face, his striking dark eyes, and even his impressive physique and Dash had no idea how to react. Breakfast was then served, as they ate Chase, Dash and Selena all gushed about the wonders of the Capitol and how lucky they were to be there. Ben smiled politely but his heart wasn't in this conversation, he wished more than anything he was back home that's what he wanted. Chewing a piece of bacon he felt a hand grip his thigh and he jumped smashing his knee against the underside of the table startling everyone, except for Chase who let out a small giggle.

"Sorry it's a motor control issue it happens sometimes."

"No it doesn't." Japa looked at his brother with a quizzical look. Ben rubbed his eyes letting his face fall into his hands to hide his annoyed expression. Why could his brother never take a hint. The hand began to climb higher on his leg, but he grabbed it before it could reach its destination.

"Please stop." He was looking directly at Chase who still had a smirk on her face. Angrily he pushed her hand away from him and continued eating while she sat there in stunned silence. The siblings looked at each other confused this had never happened before usually their tributes worshiped the ground they walked on. Everyone continued to eat in absolute silence that tension growing impossibly thick. As breakfast wound down the train began to slow.

"We're here!" Selena jumped up excitedly. "Tributes gather your things." She quickly raced off to the front of the train as Dash and Chase stood up wordlessly heading back to their compartments.

"I should go find my father." Amanda with her eyes cast at the floor headed in the same direction as their mentors disappearing through the sliding doors.

"Why did you push her away?" Japa demanded.

"Because I didn't want her to do that."

"Well why not? She's hot." Ben gritted his teeth and began to head toward the toward the front of the train.

"That's not the point." Japa caught up with him matching his long strides.

"Is it because of Faith? I thought you dumped her?"

"I did." Fingernails now dug into the flesh of Ben's hands as he tried to control his anger.

"Then I don't understand-" Ben turned and punched the wall inches from Japa's head.

"Because I didn't want it." He growled. Japa stood stunned, for the first time in his life he was afraid of his brother. Ben stormed off finding an empty wash room and ducking inside. Looking at his knuckles he began to feel stinging and noticed that the skin on one of the knuckles had cracked and small droplets of blood had begun to pool. His whole hand ached, he had never punched anything in his life and he knew he had done more damage to his hand than the wall. He hadn't been able to control his anger, he swore at his brother hating the fact that he brought her up. Tears welled up in his eyes, threatening to spill over as he thought of her visit in the Hall of Justice minutes before he had boarded the train, he could still hear Faith's voice echoing in his head.

"This is what you deserve! I was the best you were ever going to get. I've found me someone better, a real man. I hope you die first!"

"SHUT UP!" The screams caused the mirror to quiver against the wall. Slowly his breathing steadied. He didn't need her. He wiped the moisture from his cheeks, he was done with tears it was time to prove her wrong.

 **Authors Note: Hello faithful readers. I'm so sorry about how long it is taking me to update there had been a family emergency so I unfortunately may take a little longer on the updates but I will try my best to make sure I get a chapter a week.**

 **I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far please let me know who your favorite is when you find them and as always I love to hear all kinds of creative input.**

 **I am still seeking tributes so please send me some: 1 male, 2 both, 3 female, 5 male, 7 female, 9 both, 10 male, and 12 male**

 **Thank you everyone, and happy reading.**

 **Love,**

 **Hermione Sandwhich**


	6. Chapter 6

**Sicily Scottsdale, Head Game Maker**

This was the first time as Game Maker that Sicily could not simply fly into an arena in order to inspect the progress. The only possible way was to enter from beneath just as the tributes would. Her heels clicked against the dull cement floor. She did not like being underground it made her feel as if she was trapped in some sort of bunker and would never see the world again, her claustrophobia was beginning to settle in. The sooner she was out of this place the better.

"Hello Miss Scottsdale." A peacekeeper greeted her. "Mr. Higgins is waiting for you, if you would please follow me." She smiled glad to be able to focus on something besides the terrible dark hallway she was in. At the end of the hallway the peacekeeper opened the door for her, walking through however caused her smile to falter. There were no stairs or even a sizeable elevator, instead she saw the slim coffin like glass tube that was used for tributes to enter the arena.

"Is this a joke? Did Claude tell you to do this?" She looked desperately at her companion.

"No mam this is the only way in and out of the arena." She looked back at the tube letting out a small whimper. Trudging over to the tube she grumbled to her self inaudibly. Once on the platform she turned back looking at the peacekeeper as the glass slid in front of her sealing her inside. Shutting her eyes tight she tried to steady her breathing thinking of wide open spaces, unfortunately she made the mistake of opening her eyes too soon. Facing a wall of concrete, she began to panic until slowly the world began to form in front of her once again. She found herself frozen in place as the disk stopped moving. Construction crews were bustling back and forth across the decaying landscape, directions were being shouted between workers but they could barely be heard over the buzzing of the equipment. Every year since she had been promoted to Head Game Maker she had visited the arena near completion but never before had she seen something like this, she looked down to her feet trying to find the mechanism to send the disk back down so that she could leave.

"Darling you made it." Claude raced over to Sicily his Burnt orange velvet suit surprisingly fitting in with the setting. "Isn't it wonderful? You my dear are an absolute genius!" He took her arm cradling it through his and planting a chaste kiss on her cheek.

"It's um…. more…. constricting than I had anticipated." She glanced nervously at the wall of ocean looming around them. "I didn't realize it had been submerged this much." Shakily she followed Claude as he led her down the crumbling cobblestone street.

"Neither had I but don't you worry these forcefield should hold we needed enhance them a couple time when construction began because we did not anticipate this much water pressure but we managed to make it work. They have held surprisingly well." Forcing a smile Sicily followed his lead through the construction teams trying her best to keep her mind off the tons of water pressing down on them. Suddenly she heard a loud snap which caused her to scream, jumping dramatically into Claude's arms. By her feet was a cage filled with large green lizards with yellow eyes, razor-sharp teeth, and long muscular jaws.

"Oh, you do not want to get to close to those." Pulling her close to him, and waving to a nearby worker. "Jean can you please move these over by the river?" Claude cradled her as they shuffled along over a small bridge. "Those will be our mutts for the bodies of water. Can you imagine that they were once native here I barely had to do any enhancing to their DNA except of course the muscle structure in their jaws. In my research, I found that they only have strength to close their mouths not open them and because of that humans used to wrestle them for sport. Primitive history is so fascinating." Sicily was growing more tense by the minute, not that Claude noticed. He was enamored by his creation, this was his time to show off all his hard work, and creative engineering. "Now this will be where our cornucopia will be although we decided that we will keep it as is instead of creating the actual funnel, I think it will be a more modern twist." The two entered under the stone archway that would serve as the center of the games. One would have thought it completely refurbished had it not been for the bits of dry paint, and ornaments falling from the walls. Ducking off to the left Claude pressed his hand to the stone pushing away a section of wall reveling a tight spiral stair case.

"Did you add this in?" She eyed the small space skeptically.

"All I did was add the door so that it was hidden. This and the room above were actually a part of the original structure." Pushing past her he took to steps beginning to ascend.

"What are we doing?"

"I'm going to show you the best view in the arena." Groaning she took his hand and closed her eyes blindly feeling her way up the old stairs. Reaching the top of the stair case they entered a room. The foundation was solid if not slightly crumbled, it was obvious that it had been grand at one time, however the once regal furniture was now dusty, chipped and moth eaten.

"Is this what you found when it was drained?"

"Anything metal and stone was intact." Claude grasped her hand walking her to a broad open balcony. "As expected any cloth or wood had been destroyed. We had to recreate almost all of the furnishings as well as re wire anything electrical and replace the fuses. As of right now everything turns on but past that were not sure how well everything will hold up, but honestly that will be the most amusing part. We're going to make it slightly more difficult so that the tributes will have to piece things together in order to operate them but they should be able to get everything running." Claude was beaming with excitement as the two leaned against the balcony railing staring out across the arena. "Isn't it magnificent?" Sighing he placed his arm around her shoulders pulling her close.

"It's more condensed than I thought it would be."

"Yes, we found the original area was far too spread out, so we kept this as the center piece and the crew worked over time to move everything within range of the large forcefield."

"And you're sure this will hold?" Sicily looked skeptically at the dome that was almost entirely surrounded by water. Feeling unsettled once again she turned her gaze to the small disk of sunlight above.

"It should, unless we decide to drop one of the fields. It's an ingenious design! You see those arches?" Squinting she followed his pointed finger until she saw a tall ancient stone arch, looking as if it would crumble at any moment. "That is the only opening between this area and the next. This arena is actually comprised of 4 separate force fields fused together with one larger one encompassing everything for extra stability." Claude droned on and on about the specifics of the forcefield but she had begun to tune him out. The entire arena gave her an uneasy feeling. Never had an arena made her feel so uncomfortable, but then again never had an area been so obviously enclosed and unescapable. She did not want to be here any longer she wanted nothing more than to return to her suite, high above sea level. "Sicily don't you agree?"

"What?" Claude stared at her with concern.

"Are you alright dear? You look positively gray today instead of your beautiful blue."

"I need to go home and lie down." Nausea had begun to roll over her and her chest began to tighten once more.

"I can bring the emergency personnel here-"

"No! I need to leave immediately, I can't stay here any longer." Turning she moved to the stairs trying to focus on anything but where she was.

"Do you need any medication?"

"No, I just need to get home, away from this arena and confined spaces." Approaching the stairway, she fixed her eyes to the floor trying her best not to focus on the even smaller space she had once again entered.

"Will you be alright for tonight?

"Yes, I believe so. I just desperately need to get out of here." As she felt her way down the spiral staircase, for the first time she felt sympathy for those who would enter this arena.

Watching the games had always been a fascination. Sicily thoroughly enjoyed the entire celebration, the fashion, the drama, and occasionally the romance. The glitz and glamour were the highlights of the games and each of her arenas had been new and elaborate designs pushing the games one step further with each new idea. This was the first year she had strayed in to a darker realm of possibilities. Originally, she had wanted to recreate the attraction just as it has once been before the war and flooding, however Claude had convinced her that it would have been to cheerful and light hearted. Instead of abandoning the idea she decided to change directions asking him if it was possible to use the already existing structure, keeping it run down and abandoned, that would surely change the happy feeling it had originally invoked. She was right, the park now gave and horrible uneasy feeling. It looked nothing like its original photographs. What was left was a chaotic display of crumple statues, melted ancient animatronics, faulty wiring and a general look of decay. Upon exiting the stairway, she quickly hurried to one of the small disks wanting to leave this place and return to the world above as fast as she could.

"I will see you tonight darling I just have to help wrap some things up." She gave him a tight smile and kissed his cheek before sealing her eyes shut never again wanting to step foot anywhere near this arena. She felt the disk began to move and her breath caught in her. It wasn't until she heard the peacekeeper who had escorted her to the arena that she dared to open her eyes.

"Well back miss Scottsdale, the hover craft is ready."

"Thank god." She raced off down the hall way not waiting for her escort.

 **Authors Note: Hello loving readers again I am so sorry for the late update May has been a crazy month and I plan to get back to my original plan of updating every week. I am also on the hunt for a Beta so please bear with any typos I am doing my best to catch them and will hopefully have someone helping me soon. As always, I love hearing from you and hope you are enjoying the story thus far.**

 **There are still a few open tribute slots so please send one in if you have someone good to add I am still in need of: District 3 F, District 5 M, District 9 M, District 10 M, & District 12 M.**

 **Love,**

 **Hermione Sandwhich**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

 **Leona Akala, Age 14, District 8**

The room she had been led to was bright, a metallic hue glistened off of the walls and a bare examination tabled laid in the center. Medusa, their escort had pushed her inside with no explanation and here she was. The games were new to her, she knew the general premise of course everyone did but televisions were not a luxury for those on the streets. The door slide open and a man, at least she thought is was a man, covered in pink glitter strolled had never seen so much glitter in her life, his suit, shoes, gloves, tie, hair, even his eyebrows were covered if not completely made of the hot pink glitter.

"Hello miss Leona." He boomed, his voice surprisingly deep. "Let's get started shall we." Gliding over to her he grabbed at her ragged shirt attempting to pull it up her body. She growled gripping the hem of her shirt pulling it in the opposite direction stalling his actions.

"Get away from me!" tearing herself away Leona skirted herself into a corner crouching down glaring daggers at the man.

"Come on now. We can't waste a moment we will need every minute." The pink man advanced once again not noticing what Leona had gripped in her hand. As he approached her he hesitated disgusted by her filthy appearance, shutting his eyes tight he grasped her stained shirt and tugged it towards her head. The pale skin of her stomach began to show when she plunged the small knife into the man's wrist. She held tight to her knife and gripped the man's arm, not surprised to find that he lacked the strength to pull away. Her lips pulled away to reveal a maddening smile, without blinking she stared into his horrified eyes and slowly turned her trusty knife. The screams were deafening, and she loved every second of it no one was going to touch her again.

The door slammed open Powder the District 8 escort looked on in horror as the stylist assistant screamed in agony blood erupting from him severed veins. "restrain her!" Two peacekeepers rushed the tiny girl grasping her wrists before she could remove the knife. "Podric sweetheart come here let me get you to the medical examiner." She quickly bent down cradling the poor man whose skin was looking more ashen by the minuet. "I will sort this out put her somewhere that she can't hurt anyone or escape. And for god sakes make sure there is nothing else on her." Cradling the sobbing podric powder quickly ushered him out of the room his blood spilling all over her white suit. Leona struggled against the peacekeepers tearing away once before the door shut only to be gripped around the waist by a third peacekeeper. She want to kill all of them she wanted to tie them up and watch them slowly bleed out, she wanted to rip the nails from their fingers one by one and listen to their screams, she wanted to hear the soft sizzle as she pressed a molten spoon into their eyes. They would regret what they have done to her they all would.

 **Powder Puffe, District 8 Escort**

As Powder exited the room a group hd gathered in the hall to see what all of the commotion was. Upon seeing Podrics plight Hydra the escort from district 2 came in supporting the other side of the fading man helping Powder to drag him to the medical bay. She was in a complete state of shock at this point she had never heard of this kind of behavior from a tribute to a stylist. The girl had given no indication of this sort of behavior the entire ride to the capitol if anything her and her little friend Kai seemed almost excited about the experience. Usually if there is a tribute angry about being reaped they are violent from the second their name is called.

Leona was a small girl, so small in fact it was impossible to believe she was 14, she didn't pass 5 feet, and had not an ounce of fat on her body the girl was practically skeletal, that combined with her porcelain skin and raven black hair it gave her a ashen ghostly appearance. The only thing alive about the girl was her brilliant blue eyes, eyes that had not even blinked as they stared at the knife in Podric's flesh. Finally arriving at the medical bay the examiner sat Podric down on an examine table as an assistant ran to retrieve the necessary supplies. Powder watched as the Medical examiner slowly pulled the knife from poor Podric's arm. At the moment Podric's eyes fluttered shut and he fell back onto the cot losing consciousness. A couple nurses rushed to his side monitoring his vitals and preparing an IV while the examiner got to work preparing to close the wound. Powder looking down at he outfit felt disgusted she needed to change and throw away this outfit, she nodded to Hydra and the two left

"Miss Puffe." Powder was greeted by two peacekeepers. "President Snow would like to speak with you. Please follow us." Sighing she followed the two down a corridor leading her further away from her suite she would have to suffer in her blood stained outfit a little longer.

The Peacekeepers gave a small rap to the large red door and it opened instantly revealing Mandella Snows warm inviting office. "Hello Powder please take a seat." Powder looked down at her outfit. "Don't worry everything is red in here any way." With a small smile Powder sat down. "Now as you probably know we need to discuss the recent incidents."

"Incidents? The was more than one." Mandella frowned and lifted a remote that pulled up video footage of both Leona and Kai's rooms She watched Leona and could see the girl panic as podric reached at her clothes, her reaction made more sense now, she plunged the knife into his arm and help had rushed in soon after hearing his screams. Kai had also attacked her stylist who had also been a man, he had been approaching her with a Scissors and she watched as she reacted as a frightened animal. Moving quicker than she had ever seen before Kai had gripped the man's hand turning the pointed edges and plunging them into his stomach. The man due to shock had not scream which had been a mistake. Kai followed the man as he crumbled to the ground and took the scissor in her own hand repeatedly thrusting the object into his abdomen, Powder had to turn her head away when she saw the small girl dip her hand into the freshly made wound. Thankfully Mandella clicked off the footage before anything else came into view.

"Madame president I'm so sorry I did not realize both of them would do that – " Mandella put her hand up stopping her.

"Now while I normally would enjoy an unexpected team of tiny blood thirsty girls, I simply will not be able to keep it quiet they are picking off and torturing employees."

"Understandable."

"That being said." Mandella let out a long sigh. "What do you propose we do to keep them in check." Powder gazed down at her once beautiful white suit now dripped with blood.

"Obviously we will need to have them thoroughly searched since the peacekeepers in District 8 did not do a sufficient job." Mandella nodded.

"I will contact District 8 immediately and see to it that those responsible for this error are reprimanded." She waved her hand towards Powder urging her to continue.

"From the footage it seems like both girls were reacting to what they believed was a threat by a man so we will just be sure that only women interact with them and that armed peacekeepers are present at all times." Pressing her slender finger on an intercom button, Mandella gave a slight nod of her head wordlessly commanding the peacekeepers in the room to assist with guarding the two girls.

"Greyson please assign, Regalia and Lizza to District 8. Please inform them they are not to interact with the tributes unless they are escorted by a peacekeeper." The room was now empty save for Mandella and Powder. "Excellent suggestions Miss Puffe." Powder smiled but couldn't help the uneasy feeling creeping across her as she sat now alone in a room with President Snow. "From what I understand Podric will recover however as you can imagine Silverstein did not fair so well, luckily has no family so we will not be making a public statement about the incident." Powder stared back at the president but was unsure as to why she was still present as a long silence ensued. " Miss Puffe did you not have a tribute last year who attacked one of the avox's?" Powder let out a long breath that had been kept quiet last year. The girl had tied up the poor boy but luckily that was all, Powder and Silk the District 8 Mentor had found them before she could do any damage. "I found the tape Miss Puffe, I do not like things being hidden from me especially if there is a risk for danger."

"I understand Madame President." Nails clicked against the desk and Mandela thought.

"Control your tributes Miss Puffe. If you can not I will appoint someone who can and you can serve them silently." Powder swallowed hard, the thought of being made an avox causing her to sweat.

"Of course."

"That is all." Powder nodded and rushed out of the office feeling uneasy as she passed the peacekeepers. She needed to keep those girls inline for the next few days, but first she needed to get rid of these clothes.

 **Twine Bedruff, Age 18, District 8**

The voices that had been constantly chattering around his head had grown more and more distant until Twine could not hear them anymore. For the first time in hours he sat up cradling his head in his hands his eyes burning after seeing nothing but ceiling lights. When he pulled away his vision began returning to its natural state, at least he thought it had. He turned his hands over examining the skin searching for the dozens of tiny scars he had received over his years of training. The scars we gone, not covered up but completely removed, he didn't know that was possible, he looked over to his arms checking for the scars and most of them were gone too, but a couple large ones remained but seemed to stand out more than they once had.

"I had them make those a bit more distinct, that way you look more intimidating." A dark man had entered the room, everything on him was black, his hair, skin, clothes even his eyes were black, Twine had to rub his eyes to make sure he was indeed a man and not a shadow.

"You don't find me intimidating enough as is?" Twine flashed the man a charming smile despite his uneasiness at the man's appearance.

"I find you a lot of things and intimidating just so happens to be one of them, but a little embellishment never hurts." As the man drew closer Twine could just make out his features and noticed that he was running his gaze along the length of his body. That wasn't something that he had ever had happen before. The young man in front of him was the same type of slim build as he was but Twine doubted he had any where near the amount of muscle he had accumulated over the years. "Although you are not what I expected from what I had seen from the reapings." The man gave Twine a sly smile, he was referring to the act Twine had pulled when he had been reaped acting as though he was frightened out of his mind complete with hesitating against the guards and shaking on stage. The games had started the moment his name was pulled.

"What can I say I am a man of many talents." He needed to be confident, his stylist and mentor needed to know he was the one worth saving, the frightened boy act would be left for the rest of the tributes.

"I wouldn't mind seeing all of those talents" Twine felt uneasy as the young man's eyes roamed his half naked body. Whatever the styling team had done must've been good to warrant that kind of reaction, because no one had ever looked at him like that before although there was someone who he wish had but now it was too late..

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Four Months ago *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Twine fell to the ground in a huff his back slamming into the training mat as another body flung itself towards him. Reaching his arms up he tried to catch the incoming body despite knowing he was not strong enough to hold back the mountain of muscle hurtling towards him. Twine braced himself for a hard impact instead he was met with one that was much softer and much more pleasant. A hearty laugh greeted his ears and when he opened his eyes he was met with a handsome face, coated in a rough line of hair along his jaw, jet black hair that fell out of a haphazard ponytail framing the sides of his face. Twine was met with a wide smile and golden bronze eyes beaming at him.

"I win again." Twine's heart fluttered as he focused on the inviting smile. Trying hard to resist the urge to hook his hand behind the man's neck to pull him in closer. "You ok?" Twine shook his head realizing he had been caught in a daydream.

"Yeah I'm good." His best friend Weiler held out his hand to Twine, who grasped it pulling his body upwards trying to shake off the fluttering in his stomach.

"It's a good thing I'm going to beat you to volunteering." Twine punched him in the arm, and open his mouth to speak but before he could respond a petite girl of about 17 had caught Weiler's attention. Twine watched as he strut over to her and the two started talking. He could see her twirling her golden hair and biting her lip as he spoke to her. Twine noticed the subtle way weilers eyes rested on the more voluptuous parts of her body, as she giggled obnoxiously after every word that left Weiler's mouth. After not even a few minutes Twine noticed the two turning to leave Weiler's hand low on her back, before he was fuller out the door he had turned back to Twine giving him a knowing smirk. By the morning she would be another conquest in his book.

Twine had made his way home late he had stayed at the academy longer than anyone else. He stayed late on days like today, days when he needed to rid himself of his frustrations. But today the training did nothing to relieve the tension he felt. The walk home had only made it worse with nothing to focus on but how Weiler had looked above him, how he wished he would've stayed there. Two years ago when the feeling for his best friend had appeared he had pushed them from his mind trying his best to hide them and forget about them. He tried to force himself to have interests in girls at the academy, and when that hadn't worked he had tried to bury all emotions in his training. When this hadn't worked he had simply given in and accepted that they were there he had never acted on them or told anyone and for two years they had only seemed to intensify his need for his best friend growing with each day.

The house was dark when he entered. Quietly he made his way to the room he shared with his 4 brothers who were all fast asleep. He removed his shirt and pants and slipped into bed. When his eyes closed he was met with the vision of weiler beaming at him. Twine laid back and caved into his thoughts.

He stood motionless and Weiler pulled his shirt over his head, his muscles rippling as he discarded it. Twine couldn't help it he ran his hands down his best friend's chest. Weiler leaned in closer pushing Twine until his back was pressed against the wall. Looking longingly at his inviting mouth Twine debated whether or not he should just lean in. When a strong hand gripped the back of his head and Weiler crashed his mouth to his. Twine wrapped his arms around his waist pulling him closer feeling his entire body pressed against his. Twine's tongue ran along his lips begging him for entrance before Weiler opened his mouth inviting him in. The kiss became heated all of the day's tension pouring into it. Weiler fingered the hem of his shirt before gripping and roughly pulling it over his head breaking the kiss only to remove the fabric. "I should have just ripped it instead." Weiler whispered huskily against his lips pressing his body flush against Twine's his hand trailing down to rest on-"

"Twine" Twine almost jumped from the shock of hearing Thread's voice. He opened his eyes and tried his best to calm his rapidly beating heart and not sound as guilty as he felt.

"Yeah?"

"You're late again?" Thread came over and sat on the edge of his bed.

"Yeah I lost track of time. Did I wake you up?"

"No I couldn't sleep." Twine sat up.

"Why what's up?"

"I keep having nightmares that I'm going to be reaped." Twine slung a reassuring arm around his brother.

"That's not going to happen."

"How do you know?"

"Because Weiler just told me he was planning on volunteering. Trust me you're safe."

"But what if he chickens out?"

"He won't. But if he does and you get picked i will volunteer." The younger boy gulped and nodded his head.

"Now go back to sleep I promise you will be safe."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*present day*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Aria Twine's sister walked in saving Twine from his unsettling stylist's gaze. Needless to say when it was announced that a family member would be joining whoever was reaped Weiler chickened out. It was one thing to volunteer yourself but to volunteer someone else was just cruel. When Twine's name was called the game was on, he played the upset scared tribute he knew the best strategy in a pool this big was to fly undetected for as long as possible regardless of his skills. When Aria's name followed as his loved one to join he was relieved, she was the best ally he could've asked for and she had known to follow his lead. Now that the two were out of the public eye they dropped the act both emitting an air of cool confidence .

"Good now I have you both here." Aria took a seat next to Twine taking note of his missing scars, while Twine noted that she looked pretty for the first time. She wasn't caked in some kind of dirt, her hair had been slicked back into a tight ponytail, and somehow her eyes seemed bigger and brighter. Her skin was no longer a sickly grey color and the broken nose she had since the age of eight had been repaired. "So what is our strategy?" The young man prodded. Both Twine and Aria smiled at each other relieved he had given them the power to choose.

"Underdog!" Aria stated quickly. "We want to blend into the background."

"That means less sponsors initially." He warned.

"With this many people sponsors will be spread thin anyway, it's better to fly under everyone's radar. We don't look threatening normally, we should play off of that." Twine stated matter of factly. The stylist looked between the two siblings and nodded in agreement.

"Ok two boring tributes coming right up."

Author's Note: Hello readers my deepest apologies for taking so long to update unfortunately it has been a rough couple of months. I plan to have another chapter up shortly as i am almost done writing it. I would like to hear from you who your favorites are as of right now because with this many tributes there's no telling what will happen in the blood bath. I have also been doing my best to work on my writing I am planning an editing update in the near future so that will be addressed as well. Thank you very much for reading i hope you enjoy the update.


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